One, two, lace up your shoes, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)... this is the chemical structure of the main component of the street drug, ecstasy. Of all the drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, ecstasy is the only Schedule I drug that was used therapeutically by licensed physicians prior to its classification. As with all drugs prohibited by the Controlled Substances Act, there is a lot of misinformation, often created and spread by the government itself, that prevents the average person from truly understanding the risks and benefits of these drugs. We will do our best today to unravel misinformation and learn about this unique drug. MDMA was first synthesized and patented by the German pharmaceutical company Merck in 1913 for use as a weight-loss pill, but it was never marketed and was eventually shelved. MDMA was mostly unknown until it was synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in the 1970s. Shulgin's story is remarkable in itself, but he is the first recorded human to use MDMA and recognized great therapeutic value in the compound. He introduced MDMA to Leo Zeff, a retired psychologist who had used psychedelic drugs in his practice. After Zeff took MDMA, he decided not to retire, but to start using MDMA in his practice. After a few months, Zeff pontificated the use of MDMA and earned the nickname the Johnny Appleseed of MDMA. He nicknamed the drug "Adam" believing that it stripped users of a lifetime's emotional baggage, and allowed them to see themselves, like Adam, without sin. It was this powerful effect of allowing analysis of one's actions without guilt that led another psychiatrist to nickname MDMA "penicillin of the soul." Because of the patent held by Merck, no one else... half the paper. .....Jerome Beck (March 8, 1994). In search of ecstasy: the MDMA experience. SUNY Press. pp.40–. ISBN 978-0-7914-1818-5. "Dopamine-independent locomotor actions of amphetamines in a new acute mouse model of Parkinson's disease." PLOS Biology:. Np, 14 February 2001. Web. 30 April 2014. "Ecstasy 'eases Parkinson's disease'." BBC News. BBC, 14 February 2001. Web. 30 April 2014. .Halem, Danna. “Alexander Shulgin on MDMA.” Alexander Shulgin on MDMA. Np, March 1, 2002. Web. May 1, 2014. .Shulgin, Alexander, and Ann Shulgin. "Erowid Online Books: "PIHKAL" - #109 MDMA."Erowid Online Books: "PIHKAL" - #109 MDMA. Erowid.org, January 1, 2009. Web. May 1 2014. .